Apple Cyser Mead Recipe – 1 Gallon

A Cyser is a blend between an apple cider and a mead. Fermenting the fruit and honey combination is also referred to a Melomel but the apple and honey base has earned its own name. Cider is traditionally apple juice and a mead is only honey and water, also known as a Hydromol. This magnificent blend of the two delicious recipes makes a fine drink that is sure to disappear quickly if your patients can handle the aging process.

Apple cyser can be a great drink if you are looking for a higher ABV than traditional cider along with complimentary honey and floral flavors. Because of the higher alcohol content, this cyser recipe will require a few months of aging to mellow the alcohol and bring out the flavor.

For this 1 gallon cyser mead recipe, I aim for an AVB of 14% which will max out the yeast. Because the yeast can no longer survive in the high alcohol environment, the additional sugars that are left over will leave the cyser semi-sweet.

Equipment:

Bottling Supplies:

Cyser Mead Recipe Ingredients

Apple Juice:

I chose a commercially available apple juice for this recipe. I decided to stick with commercially produced juices because they tend to be blended and balanced so I know what I am starting with and can reproduce it. Once I find a good recipe, I will then try it with fresh pressed juice.

Honey:

The type of honey used in a cyser is not quite as important as it would be when making straight honey mead, but real honey is a must. The flavor of the apple cider will mask some of the flavor of the honey when the cyser is young but it will come out after ageing. A clover or wildflower honey will work great.

Yeast:

I chose to use wine variety yeast, Lalvin71B-2211, which has an ABV tolerance of 14%. The ABV will be maxed out to the yeast tolerance so any additional sugar will not be fermented resulting in a semi-sweet cyser.

Yeast Nutrient and Energizer:

The yeast nutrient and energizer will improve the health of the yeast which will produce finer tasting alcohol (fewer fusel alcohols ). When making a cider, yeast nutrient or DAP, is typically added in the beginning to increase the amount of dissolved nitrogen in the juice. Because a big portion of this recipe will be from honey that contains nearly no nutrients or nitrogen, we need to feed the yeast more nutrient as they consume the high SG must.

The high sugar content also means that the yeast has a lot more work to do and for a longer period of time. To make sure the yeast does not get stressed, indicated by a sulfur smell and high fusel production, we will add the yeast nutrient and energizer in staggered additions.

This means that the total amounts of nutrient and energizer will be measured out but only half will be added at the time of pitching the yeast, then the other half will be added a day later. Staggering the nutrient additions for cyser will make sure the yeast is fed but not given too much of a good thing at once.

How to Make a Gallon of Cyser:

If you are new to making cider or fermenting in general, start by reviewing the basic cider making guide.

Preparing the Must:

Place the honey container in hot water to liquefy the honey

Pour the apple juice (room temp or warmer) and honey into a sanitized fermenter and mix vigorously

Fermentation:

The high gravity of a Cyser will require considerably more time to ferment than a traditional cider recipe. Plan for 6-8 weeks before racking into a secondary but sample SG periodically to get a true gauge of fermentation. A time frame is less important than a quality fermentation.

Finishing the Cyser:

Due to the higher alcohol content of a cyser it will need to be aged for several months to mellow out the alcohol or you may notice the flavor of alcohol overpowers the fruit and honey. Similar to mead and wine, a cyser will develop finer flavors with time.

To age the cyser, rack it into a one gallon sanitized vessel for bulk aging to mellow the alcohol flavor and allow the sediment can drop out. Make sure there is very little headspace in the secondary vessel and the airlock is always full. Excessive oxygen exposure at this point can ruin the flavor of the cyser.

If the cyser remains hazy after several months of bulk aging, a fining agent such as Super-Kleer can be added or it can be filtered using a wine filter.

Once the cyser clears and you are happy with the sedimentation, choose your preferred method of bottling for long-term storage. It is suggested to age cyser for a minimum of 6 months to mellow the strong 14% alcohol flavor and bring out the honey apple notes.

I am confused about the aging steps? You state 6-8weeks to ferment. Then several months of bulk aging in the secondary then 6 months of aging in bottles. Is that correct? I’m supposing the secondary is only necessary to remove sediment and ensure clarity before bottling? Lastly, because the yeast has maxed out isn’t oxygen and oxidation a concern in the secondary fermenter since no CO2 will be produced? Thanks

I like to bulk age in a secondary to clarify but you could go straight to bottles if you don’t mind a fair bit of yeast on the bottom of each bottle. When the cyser gets racked into the secondary, it is important to minimize the amount of headspace in the fermenter so you limit oxygen exposure. In this recipe, I used a one gallon carboy for the primary and secondary. As you can imagine, when I racked the cyser over to the secondary there was not enough to fill the fermenter. So, I added a little more apple juice to bring up the level to the neck of the carboy. Of course, this sparked up fermentation momentarily but didn’t last long. Doing this leaves the fermenter full with limited liquid surface area exposed and leaves a small amount of CO2 in the top.

Overall, I like to age a cyser or mead at least 6 months from the end of fermentation to bring out the flavors. The first batch I made tasted harsh right from the fermenter so I bottled it and forgot about it thinking it was a bad batch. 5 months later, I opened one up and it tasted much, much better; hard to compare really. And, it will only get better with time.

My one gallon jugs hold a fair bit more than a gallon when filled to the neck but headspace is definitely needed for this type of ferment so a one gallon jug will not fit it all.

For this recipe, I generalize with one gallon of cider because it is the most common unit for purchasing in my area.

I suggest adding the honey to the fermenter and then top it up with the cider to a reasonable level. Of course, you will need to calculate your estimated SG so you know what to expect depending on your juice’s sugar level.

Because this will be a very active fermentation, you will need some headspace or you will be blowing foam out of the airlock so keep that in mind too.

Another way to prepare the must would be to blend it in a larger container until you reach your desired SG, then pour off one gallon into your fermenter. This method will allow you to achieve the right SG without having to mix or dilute in your gallon jug.

It is possible that the yeast consumed all of the sugar already and hit its ABV limit.

Did you take any SG readings?
How much yeast did you add?
Nutrients?

If you used a whole pack of yeast for a one-gallon batch (typically enough for 5-6 gallons) and gave them the nutrients, its possible that they are finished. Overpitching yeast will speed up fermentation but can harm flavor.

This is great information. I know it’s about six months since the last comment. Right now at Thanksgiving, there are many fresh ciders to choose from. I’ve made two 5 gallon batches of mead so I hope using a fresh cider won’t cause a problem for me. I will be using a gallon carboy and wonder if I can get away with using fresh cider and a champagne yeast. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks so much and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

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The Home Cider Making website began when I returned to the USA from a two year trip around the world. The craft cider that I enjoyed on the road was hard to find back home where a cider was more like a soda with a splash of alcohol.

This lead me to craft my own hard cider which stemmed into a serious hobby of weekly fermenting and liberally tasting.

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